Showing Fear
by ncismka233
Summary: On their way to dinner, Tony and Palmer are encountered by a gunman. The gunman put a bullet through Palmer's knee but luckily for Palmer and Tony, Gibbs was at a stoplight right next to the shooting. Ducky/Palmer friendship
1. Chapter 1

After a long day at work, NCIS Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs was getting in his car to drive home. Gibbs set on the emergency brake and before he could put the car in drive he heard a knock on his window. He looked up to see the NCIS Medical Examiner and his good friend, Dr. Mallard standing next to his car. Everyone calls Dr. Mallard, Ducky.

"Jethro." Ducky said. Gibbs rolled down the window and said,

"Something wrong Duck?" Gibbs asked.

"No not at all, I was just wandering if you got the autopsy report on Petty Officer Radcliff."

"Yeah I did. Palmer brought it up around 1500."

"Good, I just wanted to make sure that Mr. Palmer is following orders." Ducky said with a smile. Gibbs smiled back and said,

"Go home Duck, get some rest. It's been a long day for all of us."

"No argument there. Goodnight Jethro." Ducky said as he walked to his Morgan. Gibbs put his car in drive and started to drive home. About three minutes in to Gibbs' drive home, he heard some commotion on the sidewalk. Gibbs didn't put much thought in to the commotion since he was in the city. He stopped at an intersection when the light turned red. Gibbs watched the sidewalk to his left side to see if he could tell what was going on. It alerted him when he heard a familiar voice.

"Palmer, look out!" It was Tony. Gibbs heard a gunshot and saw a figure of a man seven feet away from Tony and Palmer. Even though Gibbs could see that Tony had his gun drawn, he pulled his car over to the right sidewalk and parked. He quickly got out of his car and made his way over to the other side of the street fast but quietly. Gibbs hid behind a tree that was less than two feet away from the gunman.

"Federal Agent drop your weapon!" Tony yelled. Gibbs could tell even from nearly eight feet away that Palmer was scared to death.

"Not a chance, make any sudden moves and he's dead." The gunman said in a stern tone. Gibbs heard the gunman click his trigger so he pointed his own gun at the gunman's head and took a shot. The man fell to the ground immediately following the shot. Tony kept his gun pointed not knowing that Gibbs was there.

"Federal Agent, drop your weapon." Tony ordered still not knowing that it was Gibbs who killed the gunman. Gibbs put his gun back in its holster then stepped out from behind the tree and said,

"Drop _your _weapon, DiNozzo." Tony put his gun away with a confused look on his face.

"Boss what are you doing here?"

"I was in the neighborhood."

"Tony!" Palmer called out in pain. Tony and Gibbs ran up the sidewalk to Palmer. They saw Palmer clutching his knee while blood dispensed out of it.

"Tony, help me get him over to my car." Gibbs said in a frantic tone. Tony grabbed Palmer's right arm while Gibbs grabbed his left arm. They quickly checked the road to make sure no cars were coming then made their way to Gibbs car as fast as they could. Tony opened the door to the left backseat of Gibbs' car and helped Gibbs put Palmer in the car. Gibbs ran to the trunk where he kept some towels in case of a situation like this. He handed Palmer the towel and asked,

"Ducky tell you how to take care of a gunshot wound?"

"Apply pressure to stop the bleeding and seek medical attention." Palmer said. Gibbs smiled as he patted Palmer shoulder. He stood up and closed the door then said to Tony,

"Let's go."

"Just to be clear, you're okay with me tagging along?" Tony asked.

"Yeah DiNozzo I kind of need to know what happened." Gibbs said as he got back in his car. Tony got in the shotgun seat and looked at Gibbs to say,

"That's a good point boss."

"Call Ducky first, tell him what happened and that we're headed to Bethesda." Gibbs said as he started the car and drove in the direction of Bethesda.

"You got it." Tony said as he pulled his phone out.

"Hey Ducky it's Tony … I need you to meet Gibbs and I at Bethesda … we're fine but Palmer isn't … to make a long story short, a guy that was following us shot him in the knee … okay see you there." Tony hung up and asked Gibbs,

"You want to hear the long story?"

"When we get to the hospital, call McGee. Tell him to contact Metro so they can deliver the body to NCIS."


	2. Chapter 2

**So it took me longer to write this story because I wasn't really sure how to word it. I hope you like the story and I hope it makes sense. *This Chapter contains spoilers for _About Face. _**

Once Tony and Gibbs reached Bethesda and got Palmer medical attention, they sat down in the waiting room while they waited for Ducky.

"You want to hear the long story now?" Tony asked Gibbs.

"No, wait for Ducky. I'm sure he'll want to know what happened." Gibbs said. Tony opened his mouth to say something but someone caught his eye. Gibbs looked up to see Tony in a daze.

"Why don't you just go flirt with her DiNozzo." Gibbs said. Tony blinked then looked at Gibbs and asked,

"Does Abby have a bat signal or something?"

"What's a bat signal?"

"Not important just … look." Tony said as he pointed to the reception desk. Gibbs looked in the direction that Tony was pointing to and saw Abby.

"Either McGee called her or she was with him when you called." Gibbs said as he got up. Gibbs could see the nurse was confused by Abby's explanation of why she was there and who she wanted to see so he walked up to her. Abby was still trying to explain why she was there to the nurse when the nurse interrupted,

"Ma'am hold on one second. Can I help you sir?" Abby turned around to see who the nurse was talking to and when she saw that it was Gibbs, Abby threw her arms around him and said,

"Gibbs! Is he okay please tell me that Jimmy's okay." Gibbs looked at the nurse with Abby still wrapped around him and said,

"She's with me." They turned around and Abby let go of Gibbs. Gibbs put his arm around Abby's shoulder as they walked back over to Tony. As Abby sat down Tony asked her,

"Abby do you have psychic powers or something?" Abby laughed and said,

"No Tony, McGee was helping me bring evidence I was testing back down to the evidence garage when you called. Gibbs has psychic powers, don't you Gibbs?" Gibbs looked at her with a half-smile. "Is Jimmy okay?" Abby asked in a quiet tone.

"Yeah he'll be fine. He's in surgery getting his knee fixed right now." Gibbs said in a gentle tone.

"Where's McGee?" Gibbs asked.

"He said he was going back to his desk to call Ziva for help and to contact metro." Abby said.

A familiar Scottish accent caught everyone's attention.

"Standard knee surgery usually takes around two hours. How long has he been in there Jethro?" Ducky asked. Gibbs looked down at his watch and said,

"About an hour and a half." Ducky sat down next to Tony and asked,

"Tony, what happened?" Tony was just finishing his story about what happened earlier when he was interrupted. A doctor walked up to them and said,

"Hi I'm Dr. Schneider; Mr. Palmer is out of a successful surgery. I'm expecting him to fully recover."

"Can I see him?" Ducky asked.

"He's in ICU resting but, of course you can Mr.…"

"Doctor, Doctor Mallard."

"Of course you can Dr. Mallard." Ducky got up from his seat and followed Dr. Schneider to ICU.

"So what field are you in Dr. Mallard?" Dr. Schneider asked.

"I'm a medical examiner and Jimmy is my assistant."

"How long has he been your assistant?"

"Almost five years. He's a very good assistant and I have a great deal of respect for him." Ducky said as he walked in to ICU. He smiled as he walked towards Palmer who was resting in the hospital bed.

"I must say Mr. Palmer, it alarmed me very much when Tony called saying you had been hurt. You are more than my assistant Jimmy; you are a young man who I am proud to call a respected colleague." Ducky said.

"Thank you doctor." Jimmy said with his eyes still closed. He opened them and said,

"I respect you more than anyone else, Dr. Mallard." Ducky kept his smile. "I've been shot at before Dr. Mallard. But I've never been shot."

"Has this event brought back painful memories for you?"

"I remember the fear I had when Suskavcevic shot at me." Palmer said. Ducky raised his eye brows.

"You know, the guy who impersonated Rick Baxter."

"Ah yes, how could I forget that case." Ducky said as he looked down at Palmer who had a blank stare on his face.

"A wise man once told me that you can't suppress that fear, it's what you do with it that counts." Ducky said. Palmer looked up at him and asked,

"Who was that?"

"Me." Palmer looked over at the door to see Gibbs, Abby, and Tony all standing there. Palmer saw Ziva and McGee run up behind them. He smiled as they walked in. Palmer was feeling really happy that he was a part of what was considered to be a big, happy, and disfunctional family.


End file.
